1. Technical Field
Aspects of this document relate generally to covers for electrical outlets.
2. Background Art
Electrical outlets often need protection from water and other contaminants. To provide the needed protection, covers have been conventionally used, particularly when electrical outlets are mounted in outdoor or otherwise wet locations. A wide variety of cover designs have been devised. Some covers are configured as while-in-use covers (sometimes called “bubble covers” in particular configurations that include a bulged lid). Other covers are not configured as while-in-use covers, but are nevertheless weatherproof (sometimes called flat covers). U.S. Pat. No. 6,476,321 to Shotey et al. (issued Nov. 5, 2002), which disclosure is hereby incorporated herein by reference for its relevance to the manufacture and use of conventional covers, discloses both while-in-use cover examples and non-while-in-use cover examples. While-in-use covers are those which are configured such that an electrical cord and cord cap can be plugged into the electrical outlet within the cover while the lid to the cover is closed against the base.
Electrical covers may comprise a lid coupled to a base by a hinge. Hinges may be biased or non-biased, and are of many different configurations. One particular configuration of hinge is configured as a pin and clip hinge where a pin on a cover lid is fitted into a receiving clip on a base. Once the pin inserts into the clip, the clip retains the pin, but allows it to rotate freely where the lid and base components do not interfere. Example of this type of a pin and clip hinge are shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,280,135 to Berlin et al. (issued Jan. 18, 1994), 7,241,952 to Dinh (issued Jul. 10, 2007), and 6,979,777 to Marcou et al. (issued Dec. 27, 2005).
One problem experienced with many clip and pin hinges is that when the lid is opened beyond its designed opening point (“overextended”), the lid and/or base components press against the clip and cause the clip to open and release the pin. Although this may be convenient in some situations to allow for release of the lid from the base, in many other situations the lid falling off of the base when the user pushes too hard on the lid becomes an annoyance. If the lid is overextended too far, the clips may become permanently overextended and damaged making it difficult to retain the lid on the base anytime the lid is opened.